LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If the rematch between Damacio Page (12-5 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Brian Bowles (8-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) were a movie, it would be “Trading Places,” according to Page.

It was Bowles who had nothing to lose when they fought the first time. Now, the pressure is on him, and Page is the guy who can relax.

Page thinks that will help him make a good impression in his first UFC fight, not to mention get revenge for the loss he took to the former WEC champion more than two years ago.

Page and Bowles meet this Thursday at UFC on Versus 3, which takes place at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.. The bout airs live on Versus as part of the evening’s main card.

Bowles is back in the cage for the first time since Dominick Cruz took his bantamweight belt at WEC 47. He’s been sidelined since with a hand injury from that bout as well as a broken foot that halted his return eight months later at WEC 52.

Page knows all too well about injury layoffs and the cage rust that follows them. The Greg Jackson pupil was forced to withdraw from two fights due to injuries and spent 13 months on the bench before returning at WEC 52. He was submitted in the third round by Demetrious Johnson.

“I’m not going to make up excuses,” Page said. “He beat me; I fatigued in later rounds. I was out for a whole year; I wasn’t able to train for eight months. Coming back, your body is not used to it. But I’m not taking anything away from Johnson. He beat me, and that’s all there is to it.”

Following the loss, Page lobbied hard for a second crack at Bowles, who submitted him in the first round with a guillotine choke at WEC 35 in August 2008. With Bowles also coming off a loss, and the WEC ceding its talent to the UFC in this past December’s merger between the promotions, Page felt the timing was right to avenge his defeat.

“When we fought the first time, [Bowles] had nothing to lose,” he said. “He came in as a newcomer, and he showed up and had a great run and beat some good people. Now, the [situation] has changed. Now, I’m in that position where I have nothing to lose, where it’s put it all on the table or go home.”

Going for broke is exactly what Page plans to do during the fight, but at the same time, he’s made some changes to the way he approaches his opponents.

“My previous fights I was going out there to kill and destroy people, and not really putting a game plan together,” he said. “Now, I have a game plan, and I’m out there to fully commit to it.”

Still, the fighter said fans can expect to see a slugfest when they tune into Versus. Think Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots, he said.

“I don’t plan on taking a step back,” Page said. “I don’t plan on stopping. I’m going to go out there 110 percent and be in his face because he’s not going to like it.”

Although the WEC’s cage has given way to the octagon, Page sees no change in his mission. Regardless of a bigger spotlight, he knows he has to deliver a win to stay in the UFC.

“I look at it as any other fight because it’s the same size venue,” he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “The venue has not changed. It’s the same amount of people.

“The only thing is there’s about a couple million more people watching on TV. But I can’t see them, so it doesn’t bother me.”

And he has one thing to say for people who think Bowles already has his number.

“I’ve never lost to someone twice, and I don’t plan on doing it,” Page said.

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